Fablehaven: Ronodin, The Dark Unicorn
by MissingMissile
Summary: Seth is given a quest from the Singing Sisters. The quest will lead them into uncharted territory. Follow along as Seth, Kendra and their mentors go on a new adventure and discover new powers. They will face many challenges and make unexpected friends... while making new enemies.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character contained herein

* * *

Sweat poured down Azubuike back. His breath came in ragged gasps. He was fairly certain that the men wouldn't be able to catch up, but father had told him to run and not stop. He stumbled as he misjudged the height of a rock jutting out of the hard packed earth, but managed to catch himself and run on. Two nights had passed since he had set out. He could still hear the screams, and the agony, and the crack of gunfire. He didn't know if anyone else made it out of the village. He had seen several of his friends running also, but he didn't know which direction they had gone. A dark line appeared on the horizon. Azubuike was shocked. He had never made such good time. Last time he had run to the mountains it had taken him over five days. He had just done it in two and a half. Of course on the five day journey he hadn't run during the night. Still, the sight reenergized him and he picked up his pace, albeit only slightly.

The sun had been set for an hour when Azubuike actually reached the mountains. He slowed to a walk, and surveyed his surrounds nervously. _Things_ lived in the mountains. It wouldn't do to get kill by some beast after running for his life for two and a half days. His breathing was still heavy thirty minutes after he had stopped running. He considered taking his father's spear off his back to have it handy, but feared that the unwieldy weapon would just get in the way if it came to close quarters combat. He headed to the cave, but as he neared decided against spending the night inside, just in case the men managed to wring its location out of one of the villagers. The other boys from the village would definitely make their way here, so he needed to stay close to the cave to intercept them.

Azubuike could feel his mind shutting down and his muscles were taxed passed their limit. He needed to find somewhere to sleep, and quick. He scrambled up the mountain for fifteen minutes but still nothing even hinted at shelter. At a particularly steep section, Azubuike had to climb the face of a vertical wall. There appeared to be a ledge at the top, so he decided to risk the climb even though he was practically cross eyed from sleep deprivation. As he neared the top, his hand hold gave way. As Azubuike fell, he thought, _This could hurt_. He bounced off of something and landed hard. The pain was far away though. Azubuike didn't care anymore. _Sleep_, he thought, _beautiful sleep_. As he drifted into the realm of dreams, Azubuike heard heavy wheezing.

* * *

The sun was directly overhead when Azubuike woke. He groaned and rolled off of a rock jutting into his back. He was sore all over. The memories of the past few days came rushing into his mind at the same time. He and a group of seven other boy his age were about to set off on a trek to prove that they could handle themselves as men. As they were preparing to leave, they heard the first gunshots. Father had said emphatically that he needed to run, and he never argued with father. As he ducked out the back of the house, he had seen the other boys also running out the back of their houses. And he had run.

When Azubuike opened his eyes, he saw his father's spear laying next to him and beyond that the yearning opening of a cave. Curiously, Azubuike picked up the spear and cautiously started into the cave. The temperature plummeted. His curiosity turned to fear and his joints stiffened up quite suddenly.

"Who dares disturb my domain?" A voice whispered.

A new wave of fear fell on Azubuike but he managed to respond, "It… it is I, Azubuike."

"It speaks," The voice drew out the s and issued terror, but Azubuike didn't give into the fear. A shape moved in the shadows of the cave. Azubuike raised his spear, changing his stance.

"And moves, few can speak in my presence and even less can move." A figure stepped out from behind a boulder. It was still in the shadows but slowly advancing.

"Come no closer," Azubuike's voice wavered.

"Fear not little hero," Still advancing, "I will not harm you."

As the thing's features came into view, Azubuike stumbled back several steps. The creature had roughly the same build as a man, but had short fur covering its chest and shaggy hair below the waist. Hooves adorned its feet and rather than fingers, it had claws similar to that of a hawk, but much more lethal looking. It was powerfully built and, though it was hunched over, a man would have only have come up to its chest.

"What are you?" Azubuike barely managed to whisper.

It laughed, though without humor, "Your people know me. It is why your people send their young men to this mountain. I see you now recognize me for what I am. You are the first without the mask to speak with me."

The mask? It was in the chest that father kept his possessions in, but Azubuike didn't think of it as anything special.

"The mask blocks the magical fear and makes it hard for me to hurt the wearer. The last person I spoke with was your father, I believe."

Azubuike's mind was reeling. He knew that the Dark Ones existed; he would be a fool to believe otherwise, but to actually be speaking with one, and to still be alive. His father had spoken with the Dark One. He couldn't imagine under what circumstances his father would be persuaded to talk to demons. He had always cautioned against anything to do with the Dark Ones.

"Revenge is sweet," The Dark One said, "It focuses your energy, letting you achieve things far greater than you would think possible."

Azubuike was silent. He could feel the truth of what the demon was saying. He had just run for two straight days. Maybe he could find a way to get revenge on the men who destroyed his village.

"I could give you power," The demon whispered conspiratorially, "Power to avenge your father's death."

"You don't know that he's dead," Azubuike said fiercely.

"I have powers you cannot even comprehend," The demon said angrily, then, calmer, "Your village is ancient. The blood of your ancestors still flows strongly in your veins. Power that once belonged to your ancestors is yours for the taking. Don't throw away the chance to become all you were meant to be."

"What do you mean?" He was intrigued, even if he didn't want to admit it.

"Who do you think made the mask?" The Dark One said, "It was one of your fathers, many, many years ago. Not everyone has the makeup to become a Shadow Charmer, but it's in your heritage. You were born to be a shadow charmer, as your father was and his father before him."

"My father was a Shadow Charmer?" Azubuike asked, "What is that?"

"You want revenge? Shadow Charmers can remain unobserved when in the shadows. The fear that would have paralyzed any human is scoffed at by Shadow Charmers. And other things also, opening locked doors, starting fires, and spreading confusion, to name a few."

"But…" Azubuike wanted this, he wanted revenge, "Okay, what do I need to do?"

"Bring me your father's killer and the mask of your ancestors."

* * *

A cloud of dust gradually made its way to the mountains. The Dark One's name was Oizee. As Azubuike was preparing himself for the journey back to his village, Oizee had told him that the men were traveling towards the mountains. He had doubted it, but the trail of dust was unmistakable. The men would reach the mountain by nightfall.

Azubuike headed back into the cave, "They will arrive by nightfall."

"As I told you," Oizee stated, "I am limited in my domain, but power such as mine cannot be completely confined." He looked back into the deeper parts of his cave, "I must prepare. When you have the man, bring him up here with you. Otherwise do not disturb me."

"But how, they have automatic weapons."

"And you have stealth and cunning," Oizee paused and looked Azubuike over, "You also have your father's spear and the knife at your waist. Be covert and no harm will befall you."

* * *

The sun had set several hours previous. Azubuike managed to avoid detection even though he was just over the ridge from the men's camp. They had arrived just as the sun was setting and after looking at the mountain, had set up camp. A guard was located at the top the ridge, but from his position, Azubuike could tell that he was asleep.

It was time. Ever so slowly Azubuike crept forward. Time seemed to creep even slower than he was. Finally he crested the rise, passing less than ten yards from the sleep sentry. Even though the sentry's back was towards him, Azubuike broke out in a nervous sweat. Finally he crawled behind a rock. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. He tried to regulate his breathing and stop the shaking, but after about ten minutes realized that he could be here all night and decided to keep moving. He was almost to the edge of camp. The fire burned low, barely more than coals. Five men, covered in an assortment of blankets, were spaced around the fire. Their jeeps were parked in the shadows on the other side of the fire, directly across from Azubuike.

For what seemed like the millionth time, Azubuike cursed his bad luck silently. He would have to work his way around the entire camp to reach the vehicles. He was fairly certain the mask was in one of them. Earlier, when the men had been unpacking, he had watched closely for the mask, but had never seen it. Consequently, the reason he believed it to still be in one of the jeeps.

Azubuike picked up the pace a little as he sneaked around the sleeping men. It seemed like he had been out here forever. He looked at the sky to be sure he had plenty of time. It was still before midnight, he could tell by the position of the stars. Still, though, he kept his quickened pace. The rocks biting into his knees were now starting to cut him.

One of the men rolled over and sighed. Azubuike froze. Even though he was in a relatively open position, he knew that movement caught even the sleepiest eyes. But he didn't need to fear, the man was again asleep. Just to be sure, he lay there for several moments longer. It was unnecessary but he didn't want to make any mistakes.

Slower than ever, he again moved around the camp. Finally, after a painstaking amount of time, Azubuike was by the jeeps. Silently, he searched the front, assuming that would be the easiest place to eliminate first. It was. There was nothing of interest in either the passenger or driver side of the first jeep. In the back of the jeep, though, was a chest similar to that of his father's, but the carvings were slightly different. He examined the lock on the front of the chest. It was a rather strange lock, having an extremely long and narrow key hole. As he tried to imagine what the key would look like he came to a startling conclusion. Azubuike pulled his father's spear off his back and slowly inserted the tip into the lock. With a slight click, the top popped up about a quarter of an inch.

Hardly daring to breath, Azubuike lifted the top of the chest. There, resting on cloth from his village was the mask. It was finely carved to resemble a fanged beast. Looking like a cross between a man and a lion. The dark wood was uncharacteristically cool to the touch, making him think that there was more to the mask than met the eye.

Azubuike turned and froze. The sentry at the top of the ridge had woken and was now standing to keep awake. He panicked. What was he going to do now? He would never be able to get to the man who killed his father. But the sentry again sat on the rock and was again soon slumped over in sleep. Azubuike breathed a sigh of relief. Now he had to figure out a way to get his father's killer up to Oizee's cave.

Finally, he just went over to the man and prodded him. As soon as he prodded him, Azubuike raised his spear so it was at the man's throat. The man mumbled something and turned his head but didn't wake up. Really? Azubuike prodded the man several times with his foot before he finally opened his eyes. When the man saw Azubuike and the spear at his throat, he just glared.

"Not a sound," Azubuike whispered, "Get up."

The man's expression turned to pure hatred, but he slowly stood up. He opened his mouth to speak, but Azubuike pushed the spear right up under his chin and the man closed it again.

"Alright, that way," Azubuike whispered, jerking his chin in the direction of the mountain. He was surprised when the man wordlessly turned and moved in the direction of the mountain. He followed closely, his spear held to dissuade any thought of escape. He didn't know why, but the man never even tried to fight back or escape. It took less than ten minutes to reach Oizee's cave. At the mouth of the cave, the man halted.

"Inside," Azubuike said, trying to sound harsh, but he thought it sounded rather feeble. After about ten paces, the man again halted.

Again Azubuike was shocked by the sudden cold but said, "Keep going."

"He cannot move," Oizee stated. Azubuike said nothing but lowered his spear. "He is in the grip of fear that any other of your kind would feel. Fear that is so strong that you cannot move. Fear, that by all rights should have frozen you in place, is now being radiated throughout my domain."

Azubuike didn't really understand how fear could freeze anyone, so he just shrugged and said, "He didn't even try to escape, not once."

"No doubt he wanted to see where you were hiding," Oizee said, "He probably then planned on overpowering you, though he would probably have had a harder time at it than he thought. There is more to you than meets the eye."

Azubuike shyly rubbed his neck; he was unused to praise, "Yea… so what do we do now?"

"You have the mask?" Azubuike nodded, "Say _of my own free will, I give Kunbhiti_."

"What is Kunbhiti?"

Even before Oizee said it Azubuike knew that it was the mask. Somehow he just knew. The mask seemed to come alive when he said it's name. It even warmed from it previously cool state.

"Azubuike?" Oizee wore a guarded expression. As if he was unsure of what I was going to do.

"Will you give it back to me?"

"It is yours," Oizee stated, "I cannot keep it if you do not wish me to."

"What do you mean it's _mine_?" Azubuike asked, "I know it was my father's and now that he is gone it has passed to me, but you seem to imply more than you state."

"The magic of the mask is tied to your blood line," Oizee explained, "Others can use the magic, but only with your permission. That is the reason I need you to give me permission to use the mask."

Azubuike's mind seemed to be like molasses, running at half speed. All he could focus on was the mask. "Why didn't you say Kunbhiti?" As he said it, the mask seemed to hum with pleasure. Heat spread from the mask to his hands and up his arms. He realized that the mask was actually beautiful, not the ugly thing he had originally thought.

"Are we to proceed, Azubuike?"

The mention of his name startled him out of his reverie. "Of course," He replied holding out the mask.

Oizee regarded the mask shrewdly, "You have yet to state my previous words."

Azubuike blinked rapidly trying to clear the fog in his mind. "Words…" He trailed off. Remembering anything other than the mask seemed to be difficult. But then he saw his father, he was explaining what he would need to do to complete his trial to become a man. There were loud sounds outside. Father got up with a worried looked and Azubuike stood up too, but didn't move towards the door. His father opened the door. Shot rang out again. Azubuike ran forward as his father crumpled to the ground.

"Run," His father managed to choke out, "To the mountains." Azubuike looked up to see a man striding towards them, the man that was currently standing next to him.

With that, Azubuike's mind cleared, "Of my own free will, I give Kunbhiti."

Oizee snatched the mask before anything else could happen. From seemingly out of nowhere he produced a bowl with what looked like milk. "A drop of your blood, three of your father's killer, and a phoenix feather," Oizee said. As Azubuike took the bowl from his claws, a feather appeared in his palm. "Use your spear to cut his finger and your own."

After setting the bowl on the ground, Azubuike reached over, grabbed the man's hand and pricked the man's finger on the tip of the spear. He then pulled the man over to the bowl and let three drops of the man's blood fall into the bowl. Then he pricked his own finger and let a drop of his blood fall into the bowl. The liquid in the bowl swirled of its own volition. It turned from the milky white to a bright red and then to a dark brown, almost like coffee. Azubuike now took the feather from Oizee and dipped it into the bowl. The feather was sucked up by the liquid, pulling it from Azubuike's grasp. Oizee grabbed the bowl as soon as the phoenix feather disappeared and poured its contents into a small cup. Long after Azubuike thought the cup should have overflowed, the last drop fell from the bowl.

"Drink," Oizee said. Azubuike took the cup, but hesitated. Oizee was chanting, but pretty much ignoring him. Casting his last doubts from his mind, Azubuike drank. The first thing he noticed was the taste. It was putrid, somewhere between decaying flesh and a skunk. Next he noticed that he could understand what Oizee was saying.

"… fire will listen…"

Azubuike almost retched as it felt like he was pouring lava down his throat. It wasn't spicy, it was burning hot. He could feel it burning his tongue. But curiously it suddenly stopped hurting. He could tell it was still burning hot, hot enough to burn bare skin. His musing came to an end as he finished the cup and Oizee stopped chanting.

Azubuike looked at Oizee and Oizee at Azubuike for what seemed like an eternity. Finally Oizee said, "Welcome shadow charmer."

"I don't feel any different."

Oizee chuckled, "Good that means it worked. If it didn't work, you'd be dead."

Azubuike looked at his arms to see if there was anything different about them, there wasn't. "If I feel the same, what changed?"

"You must learn to use your new powers." Oizee stated matter-o-factly, "Babies must learn to crawl and then to walk. You must do the same. Some powers are innate. Stick to the shadows and no one will see you and you know all the languages of the creatures of the night."

Azubuike looked over at the man, now crumpled on the floor, "What happened to him?"

"He died during the ceremony," Oizee said, "I will use his body as an automaton."

"A what?"

"An automaton," Oizee replied, "Like a real life puppet bound to serve me. It won't have a soul but it will move, breath, blood will run in its veins, normal bodily processes will continue to occur, but there will be no mental cognition. I will control every one of its moves."

Azubuike was somewhat repulsed, "Did you have to choose my father's killer?"

"The person who killed your father is in the realm of the dead, this is only his body." Oizee said, "The reason I chose him was only a matter of convenience. But if you were to bring me someone else, tear their soul from their body, and grant me power over them, I would freely accept."

He was now openly disgusted, "No, I guess he will have to do." Then after a short pause, "So are you going to teach me how to use my new powers?"

The Dark One laughed uproariously, "Nothing quite so incongruous. A desert troll and a viviblix will be here on the marrow to train you. My automaton will observe, but that will be the extent of my input."

Azubuike was a little put out by being laughed at so openly, "I was just asking."

"Young shadow charmer," Oizee condescended, "I have little patience for such things. Even the in short conversations we've had thus far have taxed my patience. It would be best if we stop speaking about it."

"Shall I wait for my mentors then?"

"That would be best," Oizee said, picking up the body of the man and taking him further back in the cave, "Bother me no longer."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters contained herein

* * *

Seth stood quietly waiting for the Singing Sisters to give him his quest. He had come with Braken, Kendra, Warren, Vanessa, and the Sphinx. The tension on the trip had been palpable. Vanessa didn't like that the Sphinx was now an immortal and openly showed it. The original plan was for Braken, Kendra and Seth to go, but when the Sphinx mentioned that he would like to see his pupil on the trip, Vanessa had instantly disapproved and wanted to keep an eye on him. Of course Warren wouldn't let Vanessa go without him, so he ended up on the trip too. The Sphinx had told Seth that it would probably be a long time before Vanessa even let him out of her sight. Seth sighed mentally. Too much drama. He still didn't trust the Sphinx, even though he knew there was no way to open Zzyzx without the Sphinx dying, but there was so much the Sphinx had showed Seth about being a shadow charmer that no one else even knew about. That and the Sphinx helped control the wraith he promised the Singing Sisters.

He turned his attention back to the Singing Sisters when they started chanting. This puzzled Seth. He was here to complete a mission for them. He didn't ask them to find something. He was thinking of suggesting a surgeon to separate them, but thought that might not go over too well. The maggot in the little pool was screaming in a high pitched whine that grated against his nerves. When it exploded, he swallowed back bile and returned his attention to the Singing Sisters.

They were unusually serious. "Seth Sorrenson," Wilna intoned, at least he thought that one was Wilna, "We require for services previously granted, the first horn of Ronodin, the Dark Unicorn."

Seth's first thought was there was a dark unicorn?

"Don't be such a drag Wilna," Another said, he thought it was Orna. She turned her attention to him, "We first had to locate Ronodin's tomb in order to find his horns."

"I thought you just wanted his first horn," He said.

"Of course we just want the first horn," Berna sniffed, "Ronodin corrupted his other two horns."

"What Orna was saying, was that the other horns might assist you in finding his first horn," Wilna said, "You will be free to keep the second and third horns if you find them."

"You would be a formidable opponent wielding Ronodin's third horn," Orna mused.

"Don't give him too much," Berna complained.

"Too much!" Orna exclaimed, "We haven't even told him about the labyrinth Ronodin created."

"Orna!" Wilna cried, "That's too much." Orna tried to look guilty, but when her sisters stopped looking at her, she winked at Seth.

"Ronodin has set certain precautions against intruders," Berna conceded, "But you succeeded in claiming Vasilis and stopping the horde of demons at Zzyzx, so you should be able to accomplish this."

"The entrance to Ronodin's labyrinth is at Luray Caverns, as a Shadow Charmer you should be able to find the way quite easily." Berna explained, "At the labyrinth's heart, is Ronodin's second horn. It has kept the labyrinth alive well after Ronodin's demise. Use the second horn to find the third and in turn the first."

Seth's head was spinning. He wasn't sure what exactly this labyrinth entailed. "So this labyrinth is powered by the second horn."

"The horn gives power to the labyrinth," Orna said, "But there are creatures not created by Ronodin living in the labyrinth."

"What sort of creatures?" He asked.

"No more hints about traps, pitfalls or creatures living in the labyrinth," Wilna stated. "Just know that it is probably harder to survive than the Dream Stone, or any of the other hidden preserves."

"Great," Seth said, trying to sound as genuine as possible even though he was being utter sarcastic, "Any other charming news for me?"

"Do not be cavalier," Berna warned, "We chose this because you were the first person come along who might survive this task."

"That is enough," Wilna said with finality, "Gromlet, escort the world's greatest adventurer junior out."

He didn't miss the reference to Patton, but he was a little overwhelmed to respond.

"Oh and don't take your parents!" Orna called just before Gromlet closed the door.

Seth stood looking at his friends surrounding him for a second. They all seemed to be in shock, except the Sphinx. His cool demeanor never seemed to diminish. Finally Vanessa said, "Don't take your parents," really slowly.

Braken's shocked looked had changed to a musing look, "That is rather odd, but we'll have to see what they think before we reach any decisions."

Kendra finally asked what everyone was waiting for, "What's the quest?"

Seth took a moment before responding. He wasn't sure how Braken would take this. He hadn't thought of that. Mostly, he had been concerned when they said that it was going to be harder than the Dream Stone at Obsidian Waste. He still had nightmares about that place, even though he never told anyone. He stole a glance at Braken before saying, "The Singing Sisters want Ronodin's first horn."

Instantly everyone except Kendra and Warren got shocked looks on their faces. Kendra wore a puzzled expression as if trying to recall something.

Then it dawned on her, "Oh Ronodin! He's the dark unicorn." She trailed off as she finished the statement.

Everyone turned their attention to Braken, but it was the Sphinx who spoke first, "I looked for his horns for a very long time. Never did I even hear a whisper of a rumor about them. I assume they were destroyed."

"As did I," Braken said.

"I haven't finished yet," Seth interjected. When no one told him to be quite like they normally do, he continued, "Ronodin corrupted his second and third horns, but not his first horn." Braken frowned at this, but otherwise remained silent. "In order to get to Ronodin's first horn, I need to find his second horn and then his third horn. The Singing Sisters said that they will lead me to his first horn."

"All of the horns exist?" Braken sat down heavily, "The enchantments surrounding them must be mind boggling."

Warren asked, "What is the story behind Ronodin?"

Braken sighed, "With our quest, I guess I should probably tell you guys his story. Ronodin was the Fairy King's second in command when a new demon came to his attention. Ronodin brought the matter before the King and the King decided to let Ronodin handle it. Well Ronodin was sure he could handle the demon, but was cautious as he approached its domain. It turns out the demon was very adept at making magic do what he wanted. He wasn't very powerful, as far as demons are concerned, but spells no one thought possible were second nature to him. He could even guide magic, so if someone had a spell, he could change it and make it do other things as well.

"So Ronodin showed up with the purpose to kill the demon, but first he wanted to find out how it was guiding spells. We're unsure of what happens from this point on. Brinn thinks that the demon kept Ronodin talking long enough to study how his power was formed and then set a spell on him to taint his power over time. No one thought this was possible, but for a demon who is able to guide spells and change magic in such a drastic fashion it is the only possible conclusion given the evidence. We think that Ronodin found out what the demon had done and killed him, or at least cast him from what is now the fairy realm."

"Zzyzx?" Seth asked, unsure if he meant the old Zzyzx and the new fairy realm or the new Zzyzx and the old fairy realm.

"The realm that previously was Zzyzx," Braken replied. Seth could see the Sphinx wanted to say something by the way his fingers twitched, but he kept silent. "Since the fall of Ronodin, we have heard neither whisper nor seen any evidence of the demon. Everyone assumes it to have been killed."

"Bad assumption," The Sphinx murmured.

"This was before the fairy queen had her own realm," Braken said, "Demons are not known for their patience."

"But they are known for cunning," The Sphinx replied, "Since no one can confirm or deny that Ronodin killed the demon, I would assume it to be alive."

Vanessa spoke up, "Unfortunately I must agree with the Sphinx. When no one can confirm death, assume life, otherwise they come back and surprise everyone."

"The fairy realm is always vigilant against the influences of demons, imprisoned or otherwise." Braken held up his hand to dissuade further arguments, "We're getting off track here, back to the story at hand. Ronodin hid, whether for shame or fear we don't know. But we do know that his horns remained pure during his hiding. He was found by a group of the Knights of the Dawn, all six of them later turned dark. At first he wasn't bad; at least it didn't seem like it. But soon he began to revel in his dark powers and purposefully tainted his horns. Well, apparently only his second and third horns."

Braken fell into a brooding silence which everyone in the group respected. After several seconds he continued, "He was there the day father fell. Mother later slew him with the power she stripped from the Knight of the Dawn, and I had previously thought she destroyed his horns, but apparently this was not the case."

"She lied to you?" Warren asked a little incredulous.

"Now that I think about it, I don't remember her ever saying that she destroyed the horns," Braken replied, "I guess I always just assumed she destroyed them. I should ask her."

"We should get back to Fablehaven," Warren said, "And tell the others."

"And our parents," Seth grumbled.

"I'm sure they'll understand," Warren replied, but he didn't seem too convinced.

* * *

"What do you mean; we're not allowed to come!" Dad exploded, "You were off gallivanting around the country for weeks without us and now that we're finally able to help, we're not allowed to?"

Seth wanted to crawl into a dark hole and hide. He knew no one else would want to tell his parents, and since it was his quest he knew that it would fall on his shoulders. He self consciously rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm just repeating what the Singing Sisters said."

"The Singing Sisters wouldn't have said it if they didn't have a reason," The Sphinx interjected, "Though I can't imagine what that reason might be, I would still say it wise to listen."

Vanessa let out a "hrump," but said nothing, probably because she was thinking the same thing.

Dad opened his mouth to speak and then closed it. The Sphinx again spoke before dad could say anything, "Unfortunately you hands are tied," The Sphinx explained, "If you forbid him to go, the covenant knife will hunt Seth down and kill him. If you go with him, and whoever else is going, you directly act against what the Singing Sisters specifically told Seth not to do, endangering the mission."

"Man," Vanessa muttered, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to say this again for at least a week, but I agree with the Sphinx. He has summed up the problem at hand in concise terms and given you your only option, let Seth go. We will of course take very good care of both of them."

"Wait," Mom said, "Both of them? Kendra is not going on such a dangerous mission."

Seth relaxed a little. It seemed that mom and dad had both accepted his need to go on the mission and their need to stay behind, but he was sympathetic towards Kendra now. All too often he had been in her current predicament.

"The Singing Sister never mentioned anything about me not going, mom," Kendra rebuffed, "Besides, I'm Fairykind. Since we're dealing with a unicorn gone rogue, he probably has predicament designed for both creatures of light and dark, and Seth has no way of dealing traps designed for creatures of the light."

"Kendra has been an invaluable asset in previous missions," Vanessa added, "Her ability to see through distracter spells alone would be a reason for her to accompany us."

Seth glanced around the room, grandma and grandpa were reluctant, he could tell, but they could see the wisdom in letting her go. Warren, Vanessa and the Sphinx all already wanted her to go. Braken had traveled back to the Fair Kingdom to talk with the Fair Queen, so he couldn't put in his two cents. Tanu was always overly protective of him and Kendra, but Seth could tell that he would let her go.

Seth's jaw practically dropped when mom agreed that it would be alright for Kendra to go with them. "It's just so hard to let them go," mom said, "But we understand." Dad nodded his affirmation.

"At least you didn't have to burst into tears and run to your room," Seth said, grinning.

Warren tried unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh. When no one else laughed, he turned it into a cough, "So… ah, when do we start?"

* * *

Three days had passed since he had gone to the Singing Sisters. Because Braken had not given them a time for his return, they had gotten back into the swing of doing everyday things again. Vanessa was off with Kendra studying some rare swamp fairy. Both Warren and Tanu had both gone with them because the swamp was one of the most dangerous places at Fablehaven. Unfortunately they had also taken both Mendigo and Hugo with them.

He was busy swatting at gnats when he heard the Sphinx say, "Ready Seth?"

He whirled around and couldn't see anyone. "Ready for what?" He still didn't see anyone, but kept looking.

"I got permission from your grandparents to take you to the dungeon," The Sphinx's voice seemed to be coming from several different directions at the same time, "But first you have to find me."

"What? Find you," He asked, "Is this like hide and seek?"

"Hide and seek for shadow charmers," The Sphinx replied. Again he was unable to pinpoint the location based on sound because it seemed to come from several directions at once.

"How do you do that?" Seth asked, "I can't hear where you are."

"One of my shadow charmer skills," The Sphinx replied, "But I can only do it while shadewalking. Now, less talking and more seeking… and shadewalking."

Seth grinned. Just last week he had found out something he could do but hadn't tried it since and hadn't told anyone else about it, beside Newel and Doren who were with him when it happened. He grinned as he recalled their look of profound befuddlement. Then they realized that they could sneak into any place in the world and tried to convince him to help them steal the Hope Diamond. They had finally let it drop when he had told them there was a curse on the Hope Diamond.

He decided to try it. He ran towards the side of the house with shade and threw himself towards the ground. The wind was knocked out of him as he hit the ground. He was disappointed. With Newel and Doren, he had reappeared in a shadow close by. He sighed, maybe it was just some portal that only appeared for half a second as he plummeted towards the ground. He was about to get up, knowing that shadewalking only works if the person you're trying to hide from doesn't know you're there, when he realized that he was now at the back of the house rather than the side of the house. _Let the games begin_, he thought. Maybe for once the Sphinx would be surprised. After all, it was a pretty awesome power, even better than shadewalking. Crawling forward, he tried to come up with some way to find the Sphinx's hiding place, but finding a hidden shadow charmer was no small task.

Seth decided to look in places that the Sphinx would hide. Looking around the yard, he saw the tree house. As he decided to look there, he was suddenly inside the tree house. He was felt a little out of breath and wondered if that might be a result of teleporting between shadows. He would have to be more careful, he hadn't even meant to teleport. As he surveyed the yard from the window, he realized that he had assumed that the Sphinx was in the yard, but that he hadn't set any boundaries. Where would the Sphinx have gone? The old Manor came to mind, but he dismissed it. It was a cool building, but there was no reason for the Sphinx to go there.

His eyes set on the house. The Sphinx had said that they were going into the dungeon, would he have hidden there? He wondered if he should try teleporting into the basement. The boundaries of the house might prohibit him from making the jump. The Sphinx was probably planning on him unlocking the door with shadow charming skills, but he hadn't managed to accomplish that yet. He pictured the room they had kept Vanessa and hoped that they hadn't locked the room.

Seth stumbled and fell to his knees feeling like he had just run a mile. He was out of breath much worse than in the tree house, and his muscles felt sore. But the feeling passed rapidly and he got up and went to the door. Just as he thought, the Sphinx was waiting at the bottom of the stairs to the dungeon. He was going to sneak up on the Sphinx, but he must have heard Seth because he turned around. The Sphinx frowned, never fully setting his eyes on Seth. Seth grinned, realizing that it was dark enough that his shadewalking was keeping the Sphinx from seeing him. But then the Sphinx raised his hand and muttered something very quietly. A torch next to Seth sprang to life.

"Ah, very impressive my young shadow charmer," The Sphinx said, "Tell me, how did you manage to get down here without going through the door?"

Even though the Sphinx had found him, Seth couldn't help but smiling as he said, "I teleported from the tree house into Vanessa's cell."

"Shadow jumping?" The Sphinx said. He seemed more surprised than impressed, but Seth would take what he could get, "And through the boundaries of the house, that is pretty impressive."

"Is that what it's called?" Seth asked, "Shadow jumping?"

"Yes, it was one of the more common shadow charming skills, but has limited uses," The Sphinx explained, "For instance, the amount of energy you expend increase exponentially with the distance you want to go. So if you try to jump too far, you die." Seth was a little shocked by his candor, but realized that the Sphinx was warning him without directly chastising him. "Also, you can only jump to places that are dark enough."

"Can you shadow jump?"

"Unfortunately I cannot," The Sphinx replied, "I was hoping I would develop the skill in my early years but it has never happened."

"Oh, sorry," Seth felt a little bad asking.

"Don't be," The Sphinx said, "I have rarer skills." He paused and Seth was about to ask what they were when he said, "Lighting the torch was a very rare gift. Remember our first meeting after you became a shadow charmer? And I told you some could light fires?" Seth nodded, "Well that was a rare gift. A few could light candles, fewer still could light larger fires, and only in legends has anyone ever had true control over fire."

"That was pretty cool," Seth said, looking back at the torch, "Does that power have a name?"

"Shadow charmers with the power were called pyromancers," The Sphinx replied.

"So you're a pyromancer?"

"That is correct," The Sphinx replied, "I trust you'll keep my secret. Braken and Agad know, but very few others."

"I will, and that's a pretty sweet name, pyromancer," Seth murmured looking around the dungeon. He had been aware of the low murmurings of the undead in the cells around him, but now he brought them full to the front of his consciousness. "So what are we doing down here?"

"Whether the rest of your friends believe it or not, you need practice communing with the undead," The Sphinx said, "I've been asking your grandparents to let you practice for several weeks now and they finally relented."

"Oh, okay," Seth didn't want to let it show, but he was scared of most of the undead he had encountered. Well, not scared, but nervous that he would mess up and the being would kill his entire family.

"It's good that you're hesitant," The Sphinx said, "I am always careful when entreating the undead, especially one as powerful as the wraith you used to protect the house. We will be moving him and the other two to their new location in the three hills."

"We're moving him to the three hills?"

"Agad has chosen him and the other two to be guardians of the artifacts," The Sphinx replied, "Agad also chose the same location of the previous artifact, so he will be moved to the three hills. It will be their domain. Anyone to wander into the boundary of the three hills will be subject to their power. They will be free to kill any in their domain."

"Or to let them go," Seth pointed out.

"Wraith's aren't known for their graciousness," The Sphinx replied matter-o-factly, "They will probably kill any living thing in the grove."

"Patton did tell me that they thirst for the living," Seth said. For some reason, he had kind of felt a bond between him and the wraith he left to guard the house. He had even woken up several nights to hear the wraith whispering in the dark.

"That's true," The Sphinx said, "Which is the reason I urge caution. Are you ready?"

"I think so," Seth replied wondering if the wraith knew he was going to get his own domain.

The Sphinx walked over to the door, inserted a key that appeared in a flick of the wrist and muttered something under his breath. He didn't hesitate, but walked over to the cell of the three wraiths. As Seth followed him, he noticed the familiar drop in temperature. The hall was silent, as if everyone was waiting to see what would happen. Seth felt like something was wrong, but maybe it was just because he was in the hall of dread.

"Is this their cell?" The Sphinx asked, gesturing to the door.

_I have waited for your return, master_, Seth recognized the tall wraith's voice, even though he never physically spoke.

"Greetings," Seth said, then to the Sphinx, "Yes this is the one."

_You are here to take us to the place known as three hills?_

Seth was shocked, "How did you know?" The Sphinx looked sharply at Seth as if asking what was going on.

_You are stronger than the other one with you._

"Answer the question," Seth said harshly. The Sphinx looked rather worried, but didn't interfere.

_While I was charged with guarding your dwelling, I was visited by the demon Dretzi_. At this point he received and image of the demon from the wraith's mind. The demon had large wings tucked snuggly on it back. Horns curved from each side of its head to the corner of its mouth, and it had claws similar to that of a hawk rather than hands and feet. _Dretzi was unable to break my oath to serve you_.

"Why?"

_Because you are strong, master. Stronger than any I have known. When my brethren and I pledged ourselves to you, you strengthened the bond, rendering it unbreakable to Dretzi. Dretzi was angered by his inability to break the bond and brought me a talisman to bulster my power_.

"You're more powerful than you were before?"

_Much more, and it has also increased my ties to you. My mental facilities are also much greater. I am able to reason much more than before_.

"How did Agad not see this?" Seth asked. The Sphinx looked like his eye were about to bulge out of his head when Seth said that and pulled a coin out of his pocket. It looked like the one Braken had given to Seth when he was a prisoner of the Living Mirage. He assumed that Braken had given it to the Sphinx incase he needed to contact him.

_Why is the other one using a communication device_?

_Can you hear my thoughts_? Seth tried to focus his thoughts in the direction of the cell.

_You need only to think them for me to hear. Do not push them so hard. But yes, I can hear you_.

_I think he is worried that you have more power than we thought_.

_I am yours_. The wraith spoke, _As I said, my powers increased my ties to you, so much so that I am able to talk to you while you are in the guarded room in the attic. I am subject to your will_.

_Can you get out of the cell_?

_I have not tried because I could feel that you would not approve_.

"Really?" Seth was surprised enough that he said it out loud as well as mentally. The Sphinx looked briefly at him then went back to concentrating on his conversation with Braken. _I think he's getting Braken and Agad to come and make sure you're not dangerous_.

_A unicorn and a wizard? You are my master; tell him I am subject to your will_.

_Is it possible for you to stop radiating magical fear_?

_It is now. I fail to see the purpose of this though_.

_Oh, I don't know, I was just curious_, Seth replied feeling a little self-conscious for asking.

_Curiosity_, the wraith mused, _I felt this feeling recently when I looked into your dreams_.

"Come Seth," The Sphinx said briskly walking towards the door, "We have much to discus."

_Go master, tell them I am entirely in your power_.

* * *

It only took half an hour for Braken to show up with Agad. Seth had no idea how they got here so fast, but he guessed that was why they were so powerful. Currently, it was grandma, grandpa, the Sphinx, Agad and Braken in the small room on the other side of the attic. They had moved here from grandpa's study when he told them that the wraith could hear them.

"Can you hear him now, Seth?" Braken asked.

He concentrated, but was unable to find or hear anything from the wraith. "I can't sense him or hear him."

"Okay Seth," Agad said, "Tell me how this wraith became so powerful."

Seth recounted how the demon Dretzi had visited the wraith and was unable to break the oath between Seth and the wraith. Then had given the wraith the talisman to try to overthrow the oath but how it had only strengthened their bond. He had further explained that the wraith had said he was bound to serve Seth and was subject to his will. As he finished, Braken sighed, Agad looked pensive but the Sphinx stoic as ever.

"Leave it up to a demon to try to destroy Fablehaven even while the demon prison was being opened," Braken muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Obviously we must study the bond between Seth and the wraith," Agad said, "Braken and I can search its mind for the truth."

"Can't we just test and see if it's telling the truth," Seth asked.

Everyone seemed incredulous that he even considered talking with the wraith, "How would you propose we do that, Seth," The Sphinx asked.

"When I was talking to him, I asked if he was powerful enough to get out of the cell," Seth took a steadying breath, "He said that he hadn't tried because he could sense my disapproval. I could ask him to come out of the cell."

"Seth, he could kill everyone if he broke out of the cell," Grandma said.

"If he could break out of the cell," He replied, "I'm sure he would have done so before now and killed everyone while he was at his strongest. It's still midday; the wraith will be limited to the dungeon. We also have Braken, Agad and the Sphinx here. If the wraith were to try an escape, I don't think he could have picked a worse time."

They all looked at each other to see if anyone else had objections. When no one did, Agad pulled out a sack, reached in and pulled out a bottle. "I'll set this in the stairwell. It is similar to the bottle Mirav used to suck up Seth with, although this will hold both corporeal and ethereal beings, so I'll have to disarm it before we come back up the stairs, just as an added precaution."

Braken nodded, "The sounds good," He pulled out his second horn and it turned into a pearly sword, "I'm pretty sure I can handle it, but it's always good to have a backup plan. Ready?"

"Wait," Grandma said, then turned to the Sphinx, "Can't you ask it to come out of the cell? I hate sending Seth down there again."

The Sphinx slowly shook his head, "I tried getting it to talk to me, rather forcibly too, but it never responded to any of my petitions that's why I contacted Braken."

Grandma finally nodded, "Okay, I guess since the three most powerful people I know will be protecting him, it'll be alright."

They all started shuffling out of the room, but Agad grabbed Seth's arm and pulled him to the side. Whispering quietly and rather fiercely said, "Are you telling me everything?"

Seth was a little taken aback and was about to say yes, but remembered something, "There was something he said right at the end, and it was really strange. He said something like 'curiosity, I felt that for the first time when I looked into your dreams…'"

"Curiosity… interesting," Agad murmured, "Anything else?"

"No," He responded, "At least not that I can remember."

"Good," Agad said, "Hurry along lest the others miss us."

Seth reached the stairs to the main floor quick enough to hear Braken saying, "The talisman strengthened its oath to Seth and turned it into a bond, somehow."

"Seth is bonded to a wraith?" Kendra exclaimed. Great, he was hoping that Kendra would be gone long enough that they would be able to get this cleared up and he would be able to tell her about his awesome wraith servant afterwards.

"It's probably nothing quite as drastic as you think," Braken responded, "It is probably similar to the bond between you and Mendigo."

"Oh," Kendra murmured, her surprise sated. As he entered the room, he could tell that the others were also visibly relieved by the comparison. Everyone knew Mendigo would never hurt any of them after being bonded to Kendra's will.

Braken ushered Seth out of the room and gestured to the Sphinx, "I don't want to delay this any longer. We need to know if the wraith is powerful enough to need a stronger prison."

Seth turned around and was about to argue with Braken when the Sphinx caught his eye and shook his head, discouraging any argument. Agad was already on the stairs. He held his bottle, not much bigger than an apple, and was chanting garbled words over it as Braken pushed him passed and into the dungeon. The Sphinx followed suit.

Agad followed moments later, "The stairs are guarded against any trespasser, coming or going. Let us see as to the evil of this being."

_You come with foul intentions_?

_I hope in all seriousness you were truthful in your description of what transpired to bring on these changes_, Seth replied, _I do not wish any harm on you, Braken and Agad are just here as precautions_.

_The unicorn would see me banished from this world_.

_He _is_ a unicorn_, Seth replied. While he was talking with the wraith, he had led the Sphinx, Braken and Agad to the cell. Braken nodded to Seth, he held his sword in one hand.

_You would have me break out of my confinement_?

_Will it release the other wraiths_? Seth asked, not wanting the powerful one to be killed just because the lesser wraiths attacked.

_You believe I will be able to break free? Yes I believe I will be able to break free also._ The wraith responded, _I do not think they will be able to follow if I leave_.

_And if they can_?

_They are lesser beings; I will hold them within the cell_.

"You then have my permission to break from the cell," Seth said out loud, so that the others would know to expect it now.

A dark rectangle, about as tall as the door but only about half as wide, began to take shape on the door. The air seemed to bend towards the dark rectangle. Agad murmured something unintelligible and a sheen appeared around him. Braken murmured something also and a white light swirled around his body. The wraith slowly floated through the dark hole in the door and it slowly flowed closed.

_I sealed the lesser wraiths in after I left the cell, master_.

_Good job and I noticed that the dark hole closed after you left_.

_It was more difficult than I thought it would be but I was able to accomplish the feat, master_.

_Just call me Seth_.

_As you wish… Seth_.

"Speak so that all four of us can hear you, darkling," Braken said, "How was it that you came by these powers?"

_As I told Seth, the demon Dretzi gave me a talisman_, The wraith replied. There was a long pause in which Braken and Agad seemed to focus intensely on some unseen force.

_What are they doing_? Seth asked the wraith.

_They are examining the bond of my servitude to you_. Seth asked the wraith what they were finding, _I don't know what they are seeing, but I have told you the truth_. After a pause, he continued, _the wizard has an open mind about me, but the unicorn would see me killed_.

_Would he be able to kill you_?

_I would not be able to defeat the unicorn_.

Agad finally stopped and glanced at Braken, who was still studying intensely. After about five seconds Braken sighed and relaxed, looking kind of defeated. "I have found no harmful underlying spells in the bond. It truly is a bond of servitude, quite a strong one at that."

Agad nodded affirmation, "I uncovered similar results."

"Will you permit us to examine your mind?" Braken asked the wraith.

_If Seth has no qualms about you searching my mind, I will submit_.

"Let them search your mind," Seth replied, then added mentally, _I will rest easier knowing that you are telling the truth_.

_My servitude to you already allows you to know that_, then, almost sounding annoyed, _your brethren keeps soliciting for my attention_.

_My brethren_? With a shock, he realized that the wraith was referring to the Sphinx, _Oh, why don't you see what he wants_?

_As you wish_, There was a long pause and then the wraith said, _he is older than most of your kind and while not extremely powerful, he makes up for that in cunning. He is a pyromancer though, which is impressive_.

_What did he say_? Seth asked.

_Nothing of consequence_, the wraith replied, _he introduced himself, showed me some of his shadow charming skills and asked if I was going to kill all of you. To which I replied with a severe no_.

Again Agad finished before Braken, "He is being very thorough," Agad explained looking at Braken, "I focused on the time during and after his guarding of the house. And I found nothing that would warrant death. In fact, I think he is probably less dangerous to you guys than he is to other wraiths."

"I don't know if you can still call him a wraith," Braken said, he had finished examining the wraiths mind while Agad was speaking, "His power has been expanded as well as his ability to cognitively see the world. His fundamental view of the world has changed."

"I agree," Agad replied, "He is not a threat to Seth or his family."

"So what do we do with him?" The Sphinx asked.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Do not own.

* * *

In the end, after much discussion, the grownups decided to go with the original plan of moving him to the three hills. They also moved the other two wraiths with him. Seth got to do that, but they seemed tame compared to his servant wraith. Agad and Braken had worked together to limit the two lesser wraith's domain to the three hills, but left the more powerful wraith untethered with freedom to roam the preserve if it so wished.

Agad had returned to the Living Mirage a few minutes ago. Night was falling. Seth sat at the desk and was trying to convince himself that writing in a journal didn't make him a sissy. After all Patton had kept a journal and it had helped Kendra a lot. Suddenly the door opened and Kendra trounced on over to him. How in the world had she gotten up the stairs so quietly? He tried to act natural and quickly closed the journal. He had written in it before, but still had to give himself a pep talk every new entry.

"What are you doing?" She actually sounded curious.

"Oh nothing," He said, trying to blow it off.

Kendra's look turned into a smile. Dang, of course she could see right through him. "Nothing," She said a little too innocently, "This looks like a diary, are you sure you not doing anything?"

For some reason he got really angry, "It's not a diary, it's a journal. And Patton kept one so it's cool!" He pushed her away and turned his back to her.

She didn't say anything which was completely unlike her, but he was still too angry to care.

"Seth," Kendra let out a strangled whimper.

She sounded so pitiful that he forgot his anger and turned. A wall of shadow was crushing her against the wall. Seth yelled and ran over to Kendra, "It's just like shadow. I don't know what it is."

"Help Seth," Kendra murmured.

"I don't know what to do," He practically sobbed. He could see that it was slowly crushing her against the wall. He wished he had Vasilis so he could chop through the shadow, but his grandparents had made him put it on their side of the attic.

Vaguely Seth registered some yelling downstairs. He put out his hand to touch it and found that it was very hard, feeling similar to glass. Kendra's hands started glowing. Seth stepped back out of surprise. He could see a defiant look in her eyes. They continued getting brighter and brighter until suddenly, the wall of shadow shattered. Kendra slumped forward as the shards of darkness vaporized, but Seth caught her before she hit the floor.

"Whoa," Kendra murmured grabbing her head, "I feel kind of dizzy."

Seth kept holding her up because she was still swaying back and forth, "You destroyed the wall of shadow."

"Yea, I know," Kendra was starting to regain her balance. She grinned, "I could feel the wall of shadow once it pushed me against the wall. I mean, of course I could feel it crushing me, but I could sense that it was there and I decided to try and destroy it."

The Sphinx rushed into the room, followed by Braken and Vanessa. "We could feel some pretty strong magic up here," The Sphinx said, "What happened?"

"It was crazy," Seth said, "This wall of darkness was crushing Kendra against the wall, but she destroyed it with light. I guess it was fairy magic."

"A wall of darkness?" The Sphinx sounded skeptical, "Where did it come from?"

Kendra and Seth glanced at each other. Where had the wall of darkness come from? Their room was specially shielded from any magic. It would have had to come from inside the room. Everyone looked around as they all came to the same conclusion. Seth noticed the Sphinx slyly putting his hand in his pocket.

Braken looked hard at Seth and held out his hand, "Do you mind, Seth?"

He drew back a step, "What! I would never do that to Kendra!"

"I know you would never purposefully hurt Kendra Seth," Braken replied softly, "I just want to make sure there isn't something else in your mind that might be using your power."

"Is that even possible?" Kendra asked, "Wouldn't he know if something used his power?"

"Under normal circumstances," The Sphinx answered, "But if Seth was distracted, or intensely focus on something else, some being might be able to use his power without Seth noticing."

Seth was taken aback. He had no idea that was even possible. "By all mean," Seth murmured, giving Braken his hands.

After a couple of seconds, Braken let go and stared in disbelief at Seth, "I don't believe it."

Vanessa and Kendra paled and Seth felt like he had just released Graulus again. The Sphinx looked questioningly at Braken, as if two pieces of a puzzle weren't fitting together.

Braken finally noticed their expressions and exclaimed, "Oh no, it's nothing bad, his mind is free from dark influences."

"Don't ever do that again, Braken!" Kendra yelled, swatting his arm, "We thought Seth was possessed or something."

"Sorry," Braken murmured, absentmindedly rubbing his arm, "It's just that Seth is a night bender, which is so rare, I mean, like no one has even heard of an actual night bender. Sure in stories and stuff, but never in real life."

"That still doesn't explain what happened," Vanessa said.

"Sure it does," the Sphinx replied, "Seth's powers are still rather unstable, therefore, he might accidentally use them in a moment of anger. When Kendra and Seth started arguing, his anger unleashed his power. Fortunately Kendra is quite powerful herself, so there was no harm done."

Seth was aghast. He had made the wall of shadow? He didn't even try to do it. "But… how is that even possible, I had no idea I could make a wall of shadow."

"Well," Vanessa said, "I think he needs a better teacher to show him how to use his powers safely."

"If you know any demons, I'm sure they would be more than willing to take Seth under their wing." That shut Vanessa up for the moment, "Besides, this is the first time Seth has ever used his night bending powers. I say we are lucky that no one died."

"What can a night bender even do?" Kendra asked.

"Well, if the stories are to be believed," The Sphinx replied, "They can take darkness and form it into anything they want, essentially. He could make a wall, as he did earlier, or a cloud that could be walked through, or water that you could swim in, though I'm guessing that doing so would take some time to master."

"But it's not even dark in here," Kendra said.

Seth looked around. Kendra was right. With the lights on, their room was very bright, but there were still shadows under the bed and behind toys. Still those shadows didn't account for the fact that the wall he made had been right next to the wall, where it was the brightest.

"It's probably because it's night outside," Braken said, "night bending only works at night, but that's not to say it only works in the dark."

"We'll have to practice at night if you want to use night bending," The Sphinx said.

"But we're leaving in the morning," Seth protested, "When will I have time to practice?"

"Right now is the obvious answer," Braken replied, "A little bit of practice should help you to learn to control your powers."

"What about Kendra," He asked, "She blew up the shadow with her powers."

Braken frowned, "I know that she can expel darkness with her powers, but destroying it is something I've never heard of."

"Maybe she more dangerous than I am," Seth tried to look afraid of Kendra, but it didn't really work out when he started laughing.

"Just you watch out," Kendra shot back, "I might be."

"Fairy magic is mostly used for healing and growing," Braken replied, "But certain skills can be much deadlier. I've seen no evidence of any of those skills though."

Kendra chuckled nervously, "Yea." It was so obvious, that everyone looked at her with a questioning glance.

"Kendra," Vanessa said, "Is there something you'd like to tell us?"

"Not really," She said, "But I probably should anyway."

"That would probably be for the best," Braken said sounding a little worried.

"Yea," Kendra seemed to building up the courage to say something. Seth couldn't imagine what fairy magic could be so terrible that she didn't want to tell anyone. "I was at the fountain out front and found that I could control the water. I was able to make a ball of water float and was able to freeze it also."

"So you created an iceball rather than a snowball?" Seth asked, that was lame and not even remotely dangerous.

"Yea, I guess so," Kendra murmured. Seth frowned; he had said it rather teasingly and she brushed it off. "I then made the ball of ice explode, and um… I sort of stabbed myself."

"What! Where?" Braken was super worried.

"Don't worry," Kendra held up her hands, "I also healed myself."

Braken stopped when she said that, "Really?"

"Yea," Kendra replied. She pulled up her shirt a little, "It hit me right here," She pointed about half way between her side and belly button. "It hurt like a wyvern had bitten me, but I just really wanted it to be healed and it did."

"Cool," Seth said, "Now I can do more crazy stuff, you're just like having the Sands of Sanctity." Everyone ignored him.

"I was wondering when you'd develop the ability to heal," Braken said, "All the previous Fairykind had the ability. I don't think any of them had control over water though. I wonder…" Braken trailed off with a mischievous smile.

"I have a feeling this is something I would like," Seth said.

"Kendra might even like it, even if it is kind of childish," Braken responded.

"What are you talking about?"

"I was just wondering what the naiads would think," Braken responded, "They are such petty creatures."

Both Seth and Kendra laughed. The naiads had bated Kendra each time she tried to get to the Fairy Queen's shrine and to beat them at their own game of trying to drown her would make them furious.

"Seth," The Sphinx interrupted, "Do you want to practice night bending? We still have sometime before you need to go to bed."

"Okay," He replied, "That sounds good. I don't want to accidentally kill anyone."

"And I might also suggest that Kendra practice," The Sphinx continued, "I really don't want an ice spear sticking out of me."

* * *

_Seth_, _Seth_, when he woke up he thought he had heard someone call his name and was about to jump out of bed when he heard it again, _Seth_.

He realized it was the wraith, _What is it?_

_It is good that I was able to wake you_, The wraith said, _I have discovered something from one of your ancestors_.

_You did_? Seth thought that the only one who would leave such a thing would be Patton.

_It is by the old mansion_, the wraith replied, _You should come at once. It appears that the one called Patton knew you were going on this quest and left something for you_.

_Really_? Seth was excited. Patton always gave good advice so a gift would probably be ten times cooler. _What is it_?

_It is guarded by a creature of great power_, the wraith answered, _I cannot tell what it is but have found an inscription on the mausoleum behind the old mansion_.

Seth had managed to change into his clothes quietly and was now about to leave when he realized just how far away the old mansion was. It would take a while to get there. Maybe Hugo could take him there.

_Shadow Jumping is also an option_, the wraith interjected.

_It's pretty far_, Seth replied.

_I will strengthen you_, the wraith replied, _but the golem is always an option_.

Seth pondered his options; if he sneaked to Hugo he risked waking up someone in the house. Of course he could always shadow jump to the yard and then have Hugo carry him to the old mansion. He finally settled on shadow jumping to the old mansion. It was the quickest and the least noticeable option.

_I am going to shadow jump_, Seth said, giving the wraith his decision.

_I will strengthen your jump_, the wraith replied.

As the wraith said it, Seth felt like he could sense where he needed to go and like he could just step there. He felt the familiar sensation of shadow jumping and when he looked around, he realized he was now on the road leading towards the old mansion. He could see the clearing and part of the mansion a little further down the road. The wraith stood next to him.

_It is but a little ways into the woods_, the wraith said.

"How come you can't see what the thing Patton left for me is?" Seth asked.

_As I said, it is guarded by a powerful being_, the wraith replied, _I have no power in its domain_.

"Is it a demon?"

_It is not_.

"Do you know what it is?"

_I do not_.

Seth began to think, which was probably a bad idea because he started having doubts about going into the woods at night. Sure he had survived Wyrmroost, the Dream Stone and the opening of Zzyzx, but still he knew that Fablehaven was a dangerous place. And if grandma and grandpa found out, well, he probably wouldn't be grounded because he needed to go on his quest, but they would devise some punishment for him. It was just that he had been so excited when he heard that Patton had left him something. He decided that if he had come this far, he might as well see the mausoleum.

"Alright, let's see this tomb," Seth gestured for the wraith to lead.

Silently the wraith moved from the moonlit roadway into the darkness of the woods. Seth tried to follow silently, but even with the almost full moon, he was unable to avoid making noise. Soon he could see a decrepit wood fence and gleaming white tomb stones through the trees. As they came closer to the graveyard, Seth was surprised by how eerie the entire place looked. Trees with knobby branches reached towards the unsuspecting, overgrown weeds and a light mist hid the ground, and a foreboding building haunted the far reaches of the graveyard. The wraith raised a ghastly finger, directing Seth's gaze towards the building in the back of the graveyard.

_That is the mausoleum_, The wraith said, _the inscription is upon the lintel_.

Fortunately, because the wraith spoke with his mind, Seth was able to grasp the meaning of the word lintel, even though he had no idea what it meant. "Are you staying here?"

_To enter the graveyard would put me in the dark being's domain_, the wraith replied, _I only dare enter if you command_.

"No," He replied, "Stand guard. If anyone tries follows me, warn me if you can."

_As you command_, the wraith replied.

Seth started out across the graveyard, wary for any whispering from the undead. Once he thought he heard very faint voices, but when he stopped, he couldn't hear anything and passed it off as his imagination. As he neared the middle of the graveyard, he heard a clomp, clomp, clomp. Seth recognized Hugo's heavy footfalls.

_It is your sister_, the wraith said, _and the earth golem_.

"SETH!" Kendra called out. She was still really far away. He decided to hang out in the middle of the graveyard rather than coming to the wood line. The foot falls drew nearer and soon he could see Hugo coming through the trees, Kendra cradled in one arm.

"Seth," Kendra called when she saw him, "What are you doing?"

"You didn't rat me out?" Seth asked.

"I figured you must have had a good reason for running off in the middle of the night right before your quest," She called back.

Seth didn't like how loud they had to be to hear each other, so he shadow jumped next to her, "Really?" Kendra jumped and almost screamed, but suppressed it. "Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you."

"Sure," Kendra retorted.

"I just thought that if we didn't have to yell at each other to be heard in the middle of the night, it would probably be safer for both of us."

Kendra sighed, "Yea, I was actually thinking the same thing right about the time you scared me."

"Late," Hugo rumbled behind Kendra.

"I know buddy," Seth replied, "But Patton left me something for me in the mausoleum."

"Really?" Kendra seemed interested and tried to get a better view of the dark building.

"Bad," Hugo said, "Segure hurt Seth."

"Segure?" Seth said, "Is that the creature that lives here? Do you know what he is?"

"Bad," Hugo replied, "Dark creature."

"If Patton gave it to Segure, he must have made some sort of deal with him," Kendra said, "But I don't know how he did that, being fairstruck and all."

"In his note to me to recover Vasilis," Seth replied, "he mentioned that he had the help of a necromancer when getting a ride on _Lady Luck_."

"Boy," Kendra murmured, "That was an unpleasant ride."

Both of them took a moment in recollection. "Yea," Seth muttered, "Anyway, you can help if you want."

"Ok," Kendra said happily, then her expression darkened, "You totally a bad influence on me, Seth."

Seth laughed, "Let's go, and don't let the zombies grab your feet."

Kendra jumped like a foot into the air, "What!"

"Good grief," He replied, "I was just joking. If there was an army of zombies waiting under the ground, I don't think I'd be going out there."

Kendra glared at Seth, "You know, sometimes you are the most annoying person I know."

"And then other times I the most awesome person you know," Seth replied, "And by the way, I haven't heard any undead. Now let's get a move on it. I don't know how long it will take to get the thing Patton left." He adjusted the straps on his emergency kit and shadow jumped over the fence. He started towards the mausoleum.

"Great," Kendra muttered, "Thanks Seth."

He hadn't even thought about Kendra getting over, he was just doing what he had done the first time he headed towards the mausoleum. He pointed at Kendra and made her shadow jump over the fence also. Kendra stared in shock at him and when he realized what he had just done, chuckled uncomfortably.

"Um… thanks," Kendra finally said, "But next time, warn me if you're going to teleport me."

"I didn't even know I could do that," Seth whispered. They had unconsciously dropped their voices as they moved into the open cemetery. "I was able shadow jump from our room all the way out here but the wraith helped me."

"The wraith?" Kendra whispered back, "Did you give him a name?"

Seth had been so caught up with having a wraith servant that he hadn't even thought to name him. "I haven't come up with one yet."

"How about Euclid?"

"What kind of name is that?" Seth replied, "I was thinking more like Awesome Lord of Wraiths."

"That's too long," Kendra replied, "How about Tuli?"

"That sounds like a flower," Seth replied, "And I don't want to name him something like Wraithy because I think he's going to be around for a while. I want him to have a real name, like Hugo or Mendigo."

"Good idea," Kendra replied, "How about Grimm?"

"That's good," Seth replied, "Kind of like the Grimm Reaper. I guess that's him name. I can't believe you choose his name and not me."

"Girls are just better at some things," Kendra replied with a flick of her hair.

They reached the front of the mausoleum. It was stone, carved into intricate patterns and animals. Seth was immediately able to pick out wraiths, demons, goblins, trolls, and many other undead or dark creatures. He didn't see any creatures of light. But then he saw one, a unicorn. But the unicorn's horn was dark, very dark. It was even darker than the surrounding demons and other creatures of the night.

"Ronodin," Seth murmured.

"That's really strange," Kendra said, "From what Braken was saying, it sounded like Ronodin's fall into darkness was really long ago and was kept very secret. Fablehaven's only a couple hundred years old."

"Weird," He replied, "Grimm said there was an inscription by Patton on the lintel."

"Cool," Kendra looked up above the door and so did Seth.

_**Seth Sorenson, Name Your Quest and Enter**_

"What does it say," Kendra asked.

"Seth Sorenson, name your quest and enter," Seth replied.

"It doesn't sound like I can come with you," Kendra said, she actually sounded a little upset.

Seth frowned. He didn't see any evidence of Patton putting this here. Then he noticed more words running down the sides of the door. "Wait, there's more here," He started reading, "_Seth, I have learned that part of your bargain with the Singing Sisters will be that you complete a quest of their choosing. I have looked hard into what they would want and believe that they will ask you to find Ronodin's first horn. I cannot vouch for the guardian Segure, as he is violent, reticent, and secretive, but he is the only place that you could easily go without help and still be unattainable for other creatures of Fablehaven._" Seth switched over to the other side of the door, "_Being a shadow charmer should play into your favor. I had to appease Segure before he agreed to keep what I have made for you. Enter only if your quest is to find the first horn of the dark unicorn Ronodin or are in grave need of help. Do not take anyone with you unless it is Kendra. And if it is Kendra definitely take her, good luck. The World's Greatest Adventurer._"

"How in the world did Patton guess that you would need to find Ronodin's first horn?" Kendra asked.

"I'm wondering how he knew that I'd be able to find this," Seth said, "Obviously grandma and grandpa know about it, they are the caretakers, but they would have no idea that Patton hid something here. Not when he managed to write it in some dark language."

"Well, whatever," Kendra said, "Let's go, we've been out here so long and we need our sleep."

Seth stepped up, planted fists on his hips and boldly stated, "I am Seth Sorenson and I seek Ronodin's first horn."

The door slowly creaked open to reveal a yearning staircase. It boomed against the wall, producing echoes that reverberated around the entire graveyard.

"That was possibly the creepiest thing I've ever seen," Kendra whispered hoarsely.

Seth nodded in silent affirmation and started descending the stairs. The stone steps were covered in dust and spider webs adorned the walls. Seth hoped that this place wasn't like any of the vaults for the keys to the demon prison. He imagined false steps that plunged them to their death. He got so worried that he almost stopped Kendra, but right as he was about to grab her, he saw the bottom where the stairs finally leveled out.

Kendra grabbed him, "Hang on, we should check the bottom stairs to see if they're real. The vault here at Fablehaven last few steps were just illusions."

Seth was glad Kendra said something. He didn't want to sound like a scaredy pants. They tested the step and found them to be true steps. At the bottom of the steps they found a large room, a very large room. Dust covered the floor, cobwebs garnered the ceiling and torches burned on the walls. Four caskets rested in the middle of the room, each spaced evenly apart. The stone from which they were carved also held the image of each of occupants, carved like a statue in the stone. At first Seth thought the walls were covered in shelves, but realized that the shelves were actually tombs. Kendra and Seth crept over up to the closest enshrined body in the floor. Seth noticed with sly smugness that he left no foot prints in the dust, but Kendra's were clearly visible.

"Wow," Kendra whispered fiercely, "He looks a lot like Patton."

It wasn't Patton, Seth could tell that much, but she was right; it did look remarkably similar to Patton. They moved to the next and found him to also look remarkably like Patton. And it was with the third and fourth.

"Why do they all look like Patton?" Seth asked.

"Obviously we've found the Burgess family tomb," Kendra replied. "I don't know why they were buried here though."

"Yessss," Came a voice like silk, "The fairykind is correct. Thissss is indeed the tomb of Burgesssss."

"But," Seth said trying to find the location of the voice, "It seems so old."

"Silly shadow charmer," The voice replied, "Burgessss is one of the oldest names in human magic."

"Really?" Seth was a little incredulous.

"Of course," The voice answered, "Going back much further than your friend, the one you call the Sphinx. And even before the Unicorn's time as well."

Finally, a hunched over figure with a staff stepped out from behind a door in the far wall that Seth hadn't noticed before. He wore a robe with the hood pulled up so that Seth couldn't see the thing's face. Its staff was a worn but sturdy looking wooden branch with a twisting convoluted knot at the top.

"Are you a wizard?" Seth asked.

It barked a laugh, "You adventures of late have given you a glimpse at many creatures that are nearly extinct, wizards being among them. I bear no relationship to dragons."

"So what are you?"

It looked at them for a long time before answering, "I was once a phoenix, but I wassss unlucky enough to run into the only dark unicorn to ever exist and here I stand."

"Phoenixes have a human avatar?" Kendra asked.

"Ssssimilar to humanssss, but not quite," The phoenix threw back its hood. A man with a beak instead of a nose and mouth stood looking at them. "Assss you can see, I have kept my beak despite being robbed of my featherssss."

"Let me guess," Seth said, "When you ran into Ronodin, he took your feathers, making impossible for you to turn back into a phoenix… bird."

"The shadow charmer is not assss dense assss it would seem," he said.

"So what did Patton leave for me," Seth asked.

"I was once called Segure," The phoenix said, ignoring the question, "I am last keeper of the secret of Ronodin's final resting place. You must first prove your worth to be granted this knowledge."

"And that would be?"

"Defeat me," All the torches went out and the room was plunged into darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Do not own

* * *

Kendra was shocked, but not shocked enough to not duck and roll out of the place where she had just been standing. She heard arrows whistle and clunk when they hit the far wall. Her adamant breastplate had inhibited her movement enough that her clumsy roll stopped before she could regain her feet and she ended up on her back. Quickly she scrambled to her feet.

"Are you alright?" Seth whispered loudly.

"Yea," She noticed that he had also rolled out of the way.

"You can see right?" He asked again in his loud whisper.

"Yea," She looked around, "But I don't see Segure anywhere. Can you see anything?"

"No," But then he hesitated, "Wait, I… I can feel the darkness. It's super weird because it's like everything is backwards. Kind of like a cake mold. I know what is around the thing, but I can't see the thing."

"Real descriptive," She said back, "Can you see where he is?"

"Feel more like it," Seth replied, "But no I don't feel anything."

Kendra began looking around for Segure when she heard a strangled choke from Seth. She looked over and saw that he was in a struggle with Segure. Crying out, she dashed over. Seth somehow managed to duck and spin in a vicious kick that knocked Segure off his feet. A black form enclosed around Segure and Seth unsteadily stood up as Kendra reached him.

"I have defeated you," Seth breathed heavily.

"Impressssive my young night bender," Segure said, "But you have hardly defeated me."

The torches on the walls burst back into flames and when Kendra looked back at Segure, he was gone.

Seth wearily waved his hand over the black form, "I have a feeling this is going to go on for a while."

"That was an impressive spinning kick," Kendra murmured, she knew that she would be useless if it came to hand to hand fighting.

"Yea, I know," Seth grinned, "Newel and Dorren have been watching Bruce Lee movies and decided to teach me some of his moves."

The hair on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end. Seth's eyes widened as she both dove forward and pushed Seth sideways. She wasn't sure how she had known, but she was sure that something had been about to happen. A large stone crashed into the floor where they had been previously standing. Her push had winded Seth, who now was on his hands and knees trying to catch his breath. Fire roared towards Seth. Kendra wasn't sure how, but she found water somewhere and pulled up a thin wall of water in front of Seth.

Kendra could feel the heat trying to evaporate the water, but she forced the water to stay cool, not allowing it to evaporate. The fire continued raging into the wall of water. She was getting more and more tired. Her focus was wavering. Suddenly the fire stopped. She fell to her knees. Distantly she could hear the water splash to the ground. Her arms felt like lead. Her chest was heaving as she felt Seth's arm around her shoulders.

"Thanks sis," He said, "I'll get him, don't worry."

Dimly, Kendra could see fire again roaring towards Seth. He stood defiantly, poised like some founding father. Blackness formed in front of Seth but instead of a wall, like she had done with the water, he funneled the fire back towards its source. The fire abruptly stopped.

Seth's posture exuded confidence, slightly spiced with arrogance. "Come out, come out wherever you are," Seth said suddenly disappearing.

Kendra could feel blood dripping from her nose. She hated bloody noses. Her head was pounding, making it hard to focus. Darkness, like a mist began flowing down the stairs and into the crypt. She could feel it. At first she thought that some being was coming down the stairs at Segure's summons. But when the darkness formed a shell over her, she realized that Seth must be doing it. The darkness began flowing up the walls, defying gravity. The mist now covered every surface.

"Nowhere to hide," Seth's voice echoed around the room, "Nowhere." Suddenly Kendra could see Seth. He had Segure entirely wrapped up in darkness. "So, how about giving me what Patton left for me?"

"You have defeated me," Segure finally said, "Release me and I will get what Patton Burgess left for you."

Seth shook his head, "I've been tricked more than once by demons and other creatures, but this won't be one of them." Kendra could have hugged Seth right then, he was finally learning to not trust everything everyone told him.

Segure glared at Seth. Seth coolly returned his gaze.

"Fine!" Segure snapped, "Pull sword out of Stafford's tomb."

Seth frowned, "It's a sword?" He looked around, "And which one is Stafford?"

"It will release the mechanism that Patton set in place," Segure retorted, "And it's written at their feet."

Seth walked to the closest crypt in the floor and read, "Henry." Kendra managed to sit up, but when her head began to swim decided against trying to stand. At least her nose had stopped bleeding.

"Benjamin," Seth read off the next. "Ah, Stafford Burgess." Kendra hadn't taken notice before, but now saw that each of the carved tombs had a sword gripped in their hands. Seth grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled. There was click and a faint grinding, but the sword remained firmly in Stafford's grasp.

Seth looked over at Segure who looked confused himself. When he saw Kendra and Seth looking at him, he just shrugged, "I don't know what Patton did. I assumed that the entire sword would come out, but apparently I was wrong."

"Seth," Patton's voice came, "And Kendra too, I am glad that both of you survived Segure's test. I was confident you would." Kendra began looking around, but didn't see Patton, "Unfortunately, as with the bottle, Seth, I am nothing but a recorded voice. But I do have something for you and also something for Kendra. Seth, go to my grave in Fablehaven. It is in the graveyard above you. There you will find several sleeping zombies, but don't worry about them. They've been asleep for several hundred years. It would take something akin to a demon to wake them. Though I suppose you could probably do it if you had guidance. But I'm getting off topic. At my tomb you will find directions on how to retrieve my gift. I had to hide it very well, for in the wrong hands it could change the course of history.

"After I helped with the shadow plague, I began to look for other ways to help you. I scouted out other secret preserves. I looked for magical items that might assist you on your journey to stop the society. While studying the chronometer I found out how to send five people back in time. I trust that I will make use of this in the future. But if you are hearing this, I trust that you have already stopped the society or managed to close the Zzyzx once it was opened. When I visited the Shoreless Isle, I found something there that I did not expect to find, a fairy shrine. I deduced the fairy queen's plan once I saw it, but I hope that you were not driven to such measures.

"I'm getting off topic again, back to the chronometer. I found a way to bind some of the powers of the chronometer to trinkets. The gift I have for you is a necklace with a charm on it that will only allow a Burgess to wear it. Don't worry, I know your last name is Sorenson but since you are in my bloodline it will allow anyone related to me in any way wear it. I mean it specifically for you Seth, but should something happen, I trust you will pass it on to Kendra or someone else in my bloodline. When you break the stone on the necklace, I will be teleported to your time. Hopefully it will allow me to bring my sword. But I will be transported to your time for three days, similar to when you broke into my safe and stole the chronometer.

Patton said the last line jokingly and Kendra chuckled.

"I trust you will only use this in a time of great need, so I will be ready for a fight. Kendra, I'm afraid I do not have anything quite so spectacular for you, though I have poured long hours into it. My diary was rather incomplete and abridged, telling most of my personal stories. In the old manor where I hid Seth's bottled message, you will find fairy script on the wall detailing how to obtain my books of magic. In it I have written about nearly every magical creature I could find, tricks I learned as a fairstruck and locations of magical items that might assist an adventurer. Many maps, directions, and detailed drawings fill the pages of each book." Patton laughed under his breath here, "I guess my language thus far has made you think this is one novel. It is not. I have filled seven massive books already and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. But I hope that you like them, and I trust that you will put them to good use. Good luck Seth and Kendra, I trust I will see you soon."

Segure sighed, "That was the most interesting thing I've heard in a long time. I always admired Patton."

Seth gave Segure a questioning look, "Alrighty then, Kendra, you ready to go?"

She was still sitting on her knees, but tried to stand up. She put a hand against the wall to steady herself and tried not to think about the bodies behind the walls. "I may need a hand," She murmured. She felt a lot better than she had before, but still felt unsteady.

Seth came over and grabbed her arm, "Goodbye Segure, it was nice fighting with you, maybe we can do it again sometime." And suddenly they were standing outside the fence of the graveyard. Seth looked brushed; Kendra wasn't feeling so hot herself. The sky was beginning to lighten over the trees.

"Good thing we finished up when we did," Seth said, "It won't be long before I will be unable to night bend."

Kendra looked out over the graveyard, "You said you couldn't hear any undead voices."

"Patton said they were asleep," Seth murmured, also looking over the graveyard.

"We better hurry," She replied, "I'm going to the old mansion, you check Patton's grave."

"Alright," Seth said, "But hurry it along, everyone gets up super early so we don't have a lot of time."

Seth hopped over the fence and began looking at the tombstones. Kendra turned to Hugo, "Carry me to the old mansion Hugo, fast as you can."

He effortlessly picked Kendra up in one arm and broke into a sprint through the trees. It had been a long night and she was really tired. Hugo reached the old mansion in a matter of second.

"Thank Hugo," Kendra said sleepily.

"Seth," Hugo rumbled.

"Yea," She replied, "Go see if Seth needs help."

The golem lumbered off into the woods heading straight for the graveyard. When she tripped on the top step and stumbled into the door, she realized just how tired she was. She silently hoped that she wouldn't have to do anything that required using power to get to the books. She fumbled with the door knob and sighed with relief when she found that it wasn't locked. She stumbled to the basement and into the fireplace.

What did Seth say the code words were? She remembered he had told her when he was describing how he had acquired Vasilis. "Seth's a show off," Kendra murmured.

Patton's laugh echoed around the fireplace, "Close enough."

Kendra grumbled as she crawled through the back of the fireplace. When she entered, she began searching for clues that Patton may have left. On the far wall she found tiny lettering saying. "Kendra, there is a latch next to the torch on the wall by the door. It is guarded by a distracter spell. Enjoy the read." And underscored was The World's Greatest Adventurer.

As with any other distracter spell, Kendra felt no effects. She found the latch, kind of like a sideways car door handle, and pulled. The wall soundlessly slid upwards to reveal an entire floor to ceiling bookshelf. She gasped as she realized that the one at the top left started at one and the one in the bottom corner ended in ninety. Each book looked like an encyclopedia. She reached forward and randomly grabbed a book.

The cover said, "Magical Creatures 'H' by the Patton Burgess."

Kendra opened to a random page. Written in bold letters across the top of the page was 'HYDRA' and a drawing remarkably similar to the Hydra at Wyrmroot adorned most of the first page. It probably was. After all, Patton had placed the key to the Dream Stone in the dragon temple. The opposite page was covered in old looking script, but it was clearly visible and easy to read. Kendra put the book back and moved up several books. She pulled out 'Magical Creatures 'A' by Patton Burgess' and pulled the handle on the wall again. As she expected, the wall noiselessly slid shut. Time to see how Seth was faring with his gift.

* * *

Seth moved to the seventh tombstone. This one was worn so much that he couldn't even see letters on it. Sighing he looked around the graveyard. He could feel Grimm hanging back in a particularly dense growth of trees in the far corner of the graveyard. He wished that he could pick out Patton's tombstone without having to look at every single one. Some tombstones were massive obelisks. No doubt they were heroes from the past. Mostly though, the graveyard was full of simple white tombstones. He decided that he was in a row that was particularly old and decided to move to a different row.

'Patton Burgess' Seth couldn't believe his luck, it was exactly the next one he went to. He put his hand on the top of the tombstone and hunched down next to the grave. "Seth, below us lays an empty grave. Like the one in Wyrmroost, this too is a false grave. Unfortunately, you will need to exhume the casket. It leads to a room where I have stored some of my greatest treasures. Once inside you will meet an apparition. Don't worry about defeating it. I had the help of a necromancer and made a deal with the apparition to guard the room from anyone not in the Burgess blood line. Since your grandma is a Burgess, you will have no problem passing the apparition. Hugo should be able to help you dig to the casket. More directions lay beneath you."

Seth was just about to start for the old mansion to get Hugo when he heard the familiar clomp of his foot fall. The sun just peaked over the trees as Hugo came into view.

"Can you come here Hugo?" Seth called, "I need some help."

Without a word he vaulted the fence and carefully stepped around graves, "Hugo help Seth."

"Thanks buddy," He replied, "Patton left something for me but I need to dig up the casket."

Hugo got down on his hands and knees and plunged one of his massive hands into the soil. He pulled up a massive load of soil and deposited it next to Seth. Hugo made great headway, quickly and efficiently excavating the false grave. Seth moved out of the way as the pile of earth became larger. Soon Hugo reached the casket. It wasn't as far down as Seth thought it would be, only about two or three feet below the surface.

Hugo stood up and dusted his hands off in a very human manner, "Not Patton."

"What?"

"Patton not here," Hugo pointed to the casket.

"Oh I know," Seth replied, "He said that this was just a door to a room, not really a grave."

"Patton tricky," Hugo rumbled.

"You're telling me," Seth murmured. He then climbed into the grave and lifted the casket lid. It was stone and Seth thought it would be really heavy, but it easily rose, hinged on one side. A ladder led down into a dimly lit tunnel. As soon as Seth opened the casket, he could feel the apparition.

"Apparition," Hugo somehow rumbled out, "He not hurt Seth."

"Patton told me about the apparition," Seth said, "He said that he won't hurt anyone in the Burgess blood line."

"Seth fine," Hugo affirmed.

Seth had a light bulb moment right then, "Hugo, can you protect me against ghosts and ethereal beings?"

"Only if fairy help Hugo," The golem replied.

"Would you like to have powers to help fight against ethereal beings?"

"Hugo always want to protect Seth," Hugo said. Then with something looking like a smile, he said, "Hugo like to have power."

Seth grinned back, "I'll see what I can do. It might be a while though."

He slid down the ladder. The walls were dull gray stone, carved to fit perfectly with the other stones. Slate covered in moss and damp with dripping water covered the floor. In several places around the hall, he could see bodies. They must be the zombies. Seth could see the outline of the apparition standing in front of a door at the end of the hall way.

"Can you speak?" Seth asked.

"You are the first visitor I have received," The apparition replied, "You are of the Burgess line, you may pass."

"I'm also a shadow charmer," Seth said.

The apparition didn't reply and didn't waver. Seth shrugged and walked to the end of the hall. Fortunately the apparition had drifted to the side of the hall. He didn't want to have to walk through the apparition to get inside. Opening the door, Seth found a comfortably lit room. A bench with tools and potion bottles stood along one wall while another was covered in shelves. Knives, swords, branches, metals, coins, rings, skins, bottles, weird looking instruments, and other paraphernalia occupied the shelves. A bottle looking very similar to the one in the old mansion sat on the bench. It had the label, SETH. He walked over and tried pulling out the cork, but as with the first bottle, it didn't budge. He pulled his utility knife from his emergency kit and using the corkscrew pulled the cork out of the bottle.

"Ah, Seth," Patton's voice resounded. He effervesced into a particulate form as he had with the old bottle, "The necklace is only one of two gifts I have for you. The second gift is a bracelet similar to the one I will be wearing when I visit you. When you break the stone on the bracelet, it will allow you to come to the past and visit me for three days, just as I am able to come to the future and visit you. I would be very careful about who you tell about the gifts. Obviously Kendra knows about the one of me coming to the future and, if I guess correctly, will shortly find out about the bracelet. I must caution against using the bracelet any time soon, especially with your quest upon you. I would use it in a couple years when you've had more training. As with me entering into your time, I will choose the time you come to the past. And believe me; I will be in dire need of help. Don't worry about accidentally breaking the stones. They are protected by magic and if tampered with, will lose their charm only to reform back on the shelf. I should be able to answer any questions you have once you break the necklace. The necklace and bracelet are on the shelf closest to the door, five shelves from the ceiling. Again, let me reiterate the fact that I expect you to use the necklace only in time of dire need, as I will with my necklace. Good luck on the quest."

Seth corked the bottle and sat down heavily. He could go visit Patton in the past? He probably sat there for five minutes staring at nothing.

Kendra walked in, "Knock, knock," She said looking around.

"What are you doing here?"

She clutched a massive looking book to her chest, "I got Patton's present and came back. Hugo said you were down here and I was just checking on you."

"Oh," Seth looked around. He was really tired, part of the reason he had been staring off into space. "Well, I'll just grab my present." He went over to the shelf and counted five shelves down. He was glad when he saw that the necklace was rawhide leather with a flat black stone hanging on it and not some girly necklace. The bracelet was similar, but it was woven with the stone woven into each of the leather cords.

"Ready?" Kendra asked.

"Yea," Seth replied corking the bottle and putting it in his emergency kit. "We better have Hugo take us back to the house. I'm brushed."

"That's what I was thinking," Kendra said. She made her way back into the hall. Kendra didn't look at the zombies on the ground but gave them a wide berth. Seth look closely though. He thought it was sad that they weren't awake. He wasn't exactly sure what asleep meant, but from what he saw and how Patton had said 'asleep' he was sure the zombies wouldn't be waking up on their own.

"Once we get to the yard," Seth called up the ladder to Kendra, "I can shadow jump us back into our room."

"That sounds good," Kendra murmured, already half asleep cradled in one of Hugo's arms.

"Alright Hugo," Seth said, "Let's go back to the house." Then, realizing that the hole was still open in the middle of the graveyard, added, "And once you're done your chores, come back here and fill in the hole."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Do not own.

* * *

Seth sighed and leaned his head against the window. He probably had gotten less than an hour of sleep after they got back to the house. He had gotten some more sleep once they started off, but now they were in the mountains and it was virtually impossible to sleep going around hairpin curves at fifty miles an hour. Even with Vanessa driving like a maniac, it still seemed to take forever. Something started to bother him, but he wasn't sure what it was. It was like there was a pressure in the back of his mind trying to point him in a certain direction. It was kind of like he was following a scent. At least they were headed in the right direction. He sat up straight when he realized what he had just thought.

"Does anyone… feel anything," He asked hesitantly.

"Are you feeling sick?" Tanu asked, "I have some—"

"No," Seth interrupted, "Not sick, like, magical."

Both Braken and the Sphinx focused on trying to sense the magical trail he was sensing.

After a moment, the Sphinx said, "I feel something really faintly. I think it might be shielded from magical prying."

Seth could feel it quite strongly now that he knew what he was feeling, "It's not very faint," He said, "It's actually really obvious. I don't know why I couldn't feel it before."

"Seth must have a very strong mind," Warren said, "To be able to sense it so clearly even if it's shielded from magical prying."

"Maybe it's a shadow charming skill," Tanu offered.

"It is definitely a shadow charming skill," The Sphinx replied, "One common to all shadow charmers, but his ability to sense it so clearly is fairly rare. Can you see anything Seth, like a dark path or a trail?" When Seth replied that he couldn't, the Sphinx continued, "Then I think I'll affirm what Warren said and just say that this power is uncommonly strong in you."

"I've always had a pretty good sense of direction," Seth explained.

"Which your shadow charming skill probably magnified," The Sphinx said, "There could be many factors that play into your ability to see this so clearly."

The rest of the trip went by as expected. Kendra ask like twenty times if they were still going the right direction and it wasn't until Seth responded that the Singing Sisters had told them to go to Luray Caverns that she finally stopped asking. When they pulled into the tourists' parking lot, everyone piled out of the car and looked towards Seth and the Sphinx.

"I'm going to use this as a training exercise for Seth," The Sphinx said, "So I don't want any complaints or comments about how long it's taking."

"Don't worry, Seth," Warren said, "We've all been through training and stuff like that before."

Seth wasn't really worried. The trail was plainly the opposite direction of the tourist building. He shrugged, "Alright, follow me," He said and started off in the opposite direction of the building towards some hedge.

"The entrance to the labyrinth is in a corn maze?" Kendra asked, a little incredulous.

"That's not corn," Vanessa responded, "But I think it's the same idea."

"The maze is pretty shielded," Braken said, "I can barely see inside it."

But Seth could feel the pull towards the maze; he knew that was the way to go.

"Hang on Seth," The Sphinx said grabbing his arm, "I want you to stop and feel the path ahead of us. I want you to envision the path and see if there are any dangers."

"Okay, I'll try," He replied. He wasn't sure if he could look and see where the path actually went. He could definitely tell which direction to go, but he wasn't sure he could tell if there was anything in between the destination and them. As he tried to follow the path he could definitely feel the twists and turns in the maze and its descent into what he guessed was the labyrinth the Singing Sisters told him about. The path in the labyrinth was full of dead ends, pitfalls and traps. Meandering trails randomly jutted off, feeling exactly like the actual trail. There was something at the first intersection in the labyrinth, and the second intersection, and nearly every intersection after that. As he pushed further into the labyrinth it got harder and harder to feel what was actually down there. When he finally couldn't see any further, he opened his eyes.

"Okay," He said, "Which one don't you want to hear about?"

"You found some?" The Sphinx asked puzzled.

"I found a ton," Seth exclaimed, "The labyrinth seems like one trap or monster right after another."

"I just wanted you to look in little maze," The Sphinx clarified.

"Oh," Seth said, "Well, I didn't feel anything in the little maze."

"We know that the labyrinth is full of monsters," Warren said, "It wouldn't really be a labyrinth if it didn't have monsters."

"Does someone have money?" Tanu asked, "Because it looks like we're going to have to pay to enter the maze."

"We should probably go back for our equipment," Vanessa said. She then frowned, looking around, "There are actually quite a bit more people here than I thought there would be. I'm not sure how we're supposed to sneak all our swords and equipment into a maze."

"We can say we're maintenance and going to use them as hedge trimmers," Seth suggested. Everyone just gave him a glance like they were questioning his sanity.

"I have a potion that will make the attendant open to suggestion," Tanu offered, "If I dose it up high enough, he will probably let us through."

"That could work," Warren replied, "Most of the tourists are up at that other building, so we could probably get off without being noticed too much."

"It's still pretty risky," Braken said.

"I have an idea," Seth interjected. When they all turned and looked at him, he was surprised. Normally people ignored him. He guessed getting Vasilis and playing a key part in saving the world kind of upped his reputation. "So we go into the maze, I shadow jump to the car, grab as much stuff as I can and shadow jump back. No nosey tourist the wiser."

They all stood looking at each other, mulling over what he said.

"It quite a bit of stuff," Tanu said, "You'd have to make several trips."

"Couldn't you just make the stuff shadow jump to you," Kendra said, "Like you did with me in the graveyarrrrd." She drew out graveyard, realizing that she said too much.

"When was this?" The Sphinx asked.

"The domain of Segure?" Warren exclaimed, "You guys could have been killed!"

Both the Sphinx and Braken looked sharply at Warren. "Segure resides in Fablehaven?" Braken questioned, "How did he come to reside in Fablehaven?"

"Patton," Seth said.

"No," Kendra said, "From how Patton talked, it sounded like Segure had been there for quite some time."

"Kendra's right," Warren said, "Burgesses have been, how should I put it, overly protective since the very first Burgess. The first Burgess was Henry Burgess. He sought a way to protect secrets after his death and devised a tomb that could be linked to this dimension. I'm guessing that it was similar to the knapsack which I called home for far too long. Initially it was at the original secret preserve. The one before Fablehaven, but was moved to Fablehaven the original fell. I don't know if I ever actually learned the name of the original preserve."

"It was located in England," The Sphinx said, "In the fens, and I believe that it was called the Misty Moors."

"There you go," Warren said, he looked like he was about to make some ribbing comment, but cleared his throat and continued, "Anyway, before being moved to Fablehaven, while it was still at the Misty Moors, Stafford Burgess managed to do something for a lost phoenix named Segure. Segure had been wondering since his encounter with some demon that managed to take his feathers, and Stafford offered him sanctuary at the tomb."

Seth and Kendra looked at each other. It was no demon that took his feathers, but Ronodin. "Slightly wrong," Seth interjected. Kendra winced. She probably was hoping that he wouldn't say anything. "Segure's feathers were taken by the dark unicorn, Ronodin."

"Ok… well that actually makes sense," Warren said, "Segure is supposed to protect some sort of dark secret, but that is supposed to be really powerful."

"Can't imagine what that secret might be," Braken said pretty forcefully, indicating that there was no room for response.

Seth, as usual, managed to blatantly ignore all social queues, "He's just protecting the secret of Ronodin's horns."

"Don't talk about it, Seth," Braken said, a little uncomfortable, "There are reasons other than image for the Fairy Queen to protect the secret. If dark creatures everywhere knew that a unicorn turned dark and his corrupted horns were still at large…" Braken trailed off, letting that hang in the air.

"I still want to know what they were doing at Fablehaven's graveyard," Tanu quietly interjected into the silence.

Seth could feel Kendra's eyes on him as he returned the adult's gazes. His mouth was dry, "Patton left me something for my quest."

"He did?" Warren looked curious. Everyone else was less disappointed, but still disapproving.

"What did he leave you?" Vanessa asked.

Seth resisted putting a hand to his necklace and tried to distract them towards something else, "I'd rather not say." He glanced towards the van to throw off any suspicion.

"Nonsense," Braken said, "Tell us."

"Kendra knows too," Seth replied, "If you can get her to tell you, good for you, but you'll not get it out of me."

Braken looked expectantly at Kendra, "Well?"

Kendra looked guilty. She glanced at Seth, but he just shrugged, keeping his expression neutral. Finally Kendra looked darkly at the ground and spat, "Curse you Patton." Then to Braken, "Sorry, I'll not tell you either."

"I can't believe you don't trust us," Vanessa spluttered.

"Says the person with millions of secrets," Seth replied, "Once you tell me _all_ of your secrets, I'll consider telling you all of mine."

Braken and Vanessa shifted uncomfortably. The Sphinx winked at Seth.

"Have we settled how we're getting our equipment into the labyrinth?" Kendra asked.

Seth nodded, "I think that I can probably do what Kendra is asking," He was fairly sure he could, "But if that doesn't work, I can always shadow jump to the car and get the stuff out."

Braken just nodded, "That's fine."

The other nodded their affirmation. Seth matched Tanu's pace to the attendant's window. When Tanu didn't say anything, Seth looked up at him. He was frozen. Seth realized that everything had fallen silent. He looked around and noticed that the others were frozen too. Seth was really worried now and grabbed Tanu arm, trying to shake him out of his stupor.

"Hello Seth," The attendant said, his jaw moving up and down mechanically.

Seth was shocked. Then he realized just how stiff the attendant was, "Who are you?"

The attendant laughed like a robot, "Do I receive no thanks for establishing a relationship between you and your wraith friend?"

Seth realized he must be talking with the demon who gave the talisman to Grimm, "Dretzi?"

"That is what lesser beings call me," Dretzi said through the attendant.

"What have you done to my friends?"

"Nothing," Dretzi said, "I have however lifted us out of the realm of time. It was tricky with the unicorn involved, but I am an accomplished spell weaver."

"What do you want?" Seth tried to say harshly.

"You should know that the Oizee and I were arch rivals while he was around." Dretzi said, "Even the unicorn should know that. I am here because he is sending out his own search party for the horns of Ronodin. I want you to succeed because I want him to fail."

"And you want the horns for yourself," Seth spat, "I know what you demons are, nothing but filthy lying cowards. Be gone, demon."

"As you wish," Dretzi said, "But to prove to you that I really am rooting for you, I'll grant you this information. Oizee has trained a shadow charmer and is sending a group of trolls and blixes with him to retrieve the second horn. Be on your guard, the shadow charmer is quite powerful."

A gust of wind blew through Seth's hair and he shivered even though it was quite hot outside.

"I guess we're all adults except for you, Seth," Tanu said. He turned to the attendant, "Six adults and a child."

"Today's free," The attendant said, "Some sort of benefactor paid for everyone's admissions today." Seth was creeped out that the attendant still had the same sort of mechanical way of talking.

"Really…" Tanu drew it out into a statement rather than a question, "Okay, thanks."

Seth quietly fell back in step with Braken. Kendra glared at him from his other side, but Seth ignored her and whispered, "We need to talk."

Seth's demeanor must have caught Braken's attention, because he looked sharply at Seth and then nodded, "Will inside the maze be alright, or somewhere else?"

"Um… the maze should be fine." Seth replied, "You can sense when someone is spying on us?"

"Sure," Braken replied, "Let's get a little further into the maze before talking about it though."

They continued into the maze. Tanu was first, the Sphinx following, and Vanessa and Warren keeping an eye on the Sphinx. Braken, Kendra and Seth brought up the rear. Tanu followed the maze for a couple of turns before Braken called out for everyone to stop. "Alright Seth, what happened?"

"When Tanu and me were at the counter, everything froze," Seth said, "Like everything. The wind wasn't blowing, birds stopped singing, and stuff like that. Well, I grabbed Tanu arm and he didn't do anything. Then the attendant said something like, 'Hello Seth' and I was like 'how do you know my name?' Well Dretzi was speaking through the attendant somehow, and had frozen time for you guys but not me. Apparently Dretzi and Oizee were like rivals or something. He said that Oizee had trained a shadow charmer and a group of blixes and trolls were on their way to get the horn. The shadow charmer was leading them. He also said that the shadow charmer was really powerful."

"That everything he told you?" The Sphinx looked skeptical.

"Well, halfway through, I accused Dretzi of wanting the horns for himself. He just said, 'to prove I'm on your side, I'll tell you about this other shadow charmer.' And told me about the trolls and blixes."

"Maybe you shouldn't have accused Dretzi of just wanting the horns and tried to milk as much information as possible out of him," The Sphinx mused.

"I don't know how I didn't feel any magic," Braken murmured.

"He said that he just pulled me out of time," Seth said, "Probably didn't even do any magic on you."

"Well, I don't think we can take anything the demon says as the truth," Braken said, "First up on a demon's list is to deceive and then to deceive again."

"The first thing a demon does is try and gain your trust," The Sphinx said, "I would assume that most of what he told Seth was the truth, though sprinkled with little nuances to get us thinking a certain way. Something very small is probably a lie, but everything else is most likely true."

"So what's the lie?" Kendra asked.

Everyone was silent for a while as they each thought about it. "Maybe we should look at what's true and then from there figure out what's false," Warren offered.

"Good thinking," Braken replied, "So the army of trolls and blixes are probably true. The shadow charmer… I'm not too sure about that one. Since Seth there hasn't been a shadow charmer for hundreds of years."

"I would actually say that the shadow charmer is probably true," Vanessa objected, "Dretzi stands little to gain from lying about a shadow charmer leading a group of dark creatures our way. And it would be a pretty obvious lie once we run into the dark creatures."

"I would agree with Vanessa," The Sphinx stated, "Dretzi will look to exploit every angle of this. Throwing a shadow charmer into the mix will put us more on guard. Whereas if Dretzi had failed to mention the shadow charmer, we would be more likely to rush into a fight, unprepared for the shadow charmer."

"Okay," Braken said, "We'll assume there is an army of trolls and blixes led by a shadow charmer."

"I don't know if army would be correct," Seth said, thinking back to the conversation with Dretzi, "He just said a group. But I guess it could be an army and he could be trying to make it seem like a small group."

"Let's assume that it'll be a fairly large group of trolls and blixes," Braken said, "That way we're not surprised if there actually is a large group of dark creatures waiting to kill us."

"So what's the lie?" Tanu asked.

Silence again rested upon them. After a minute the Sphinx broke out a smile, "I've got it."

"Well," Vanessa said, "What is it?"

"Not actually a lie," The Sphinx replied, "In fact it was probably completely the truth. It was just meant as a misdirection."

"That Oizee and Dretzi were arch nemesis?" Seth said. He had been thinking about that, but hadn't really found any way to prove one way or the other for that to be false.

"Exactly," The Sphinx replied.

"I don't understand," Warren frowned.

"They were enemies, but are now working together," Kendra murmured.

"Very good," The Sphinx said, "I'm impressed with you two."

"So am I," Braken said, "I was thinking of that. I probably would have reached that conclusion given enough time."

"I don't think I would have," Warren said rubbing his forehead, "I wasn't even thinking of that."

"Well you were never tricked into healing a demon so that he could open Zzyzx and destroy the world," Seth replied.

"Touché," Warren said.

"Alright," Braken said, "So we've figured out, hopefully, what their plans are. Oizee will keep track of the other shadow charmer while Dretzi will keep tabs on us, and probably pit us against each other so that no matter who wins, the demons can snatch the horn after we're done fighting and kill us."

"I think we shouldn't let that happen," The Sphinx said.

"No really?" Vanessa drawled.

"And I also think they won't strike until we also have the third horn," The Sphinx completely ignored Vanessa.

"But, once we have the third horn," Seth said, "It'll be harder to take away."

"What do you mean?" Braken asked.

Seth was a little puzzled that Braken didn't understand, "I'm a shadow charmer. I'll be able to use the power of the horns."

"Yea, right," Braken scoffed, "You can wield a unicorn horn."

He looked at the Sphinx, slightly shocked. The Sphinx was frowning and not even looking at Seth, but he shook his head, as if to keep Seth from replying. Seth just sighed and decided that he might as well try to get their equipment over here. He decided to try Vasilis first, as he was most familiar with the weapon. He could just make it jump right into his hands. He felt his hand close around the hilt and the familiar thrill as its power sharpened all of his senses. Opening his eyes, he realized that he had forgotten to bring the sheath with the sword. He felt the weight of it on his belt and sheathed Vasilis. Everything seemed dull without Vasilis. He resisted the urge to pull Vasilis out again.

"Nice," Kendra said, "That's going to come in handy. If we ever get captured you can just pull Vasilis right out of the air and escape."

"Well done," The Sphinx said, "The rest of the equipment will probably be harder because you're not as familiar with it."

"I think I'll be able to get the rest," He replied. Focusing again, he tried to imagine all of the equipment in the back of the SUV and just transport everything to where he was. He felt like something was draining out of him, and then he heard the clatter of their equipment.

"My backpack isn't here," Braken frowned, "I did have some magical protection on it though, so I could just go and get it. It's not like a sword or anything."

Seth frowned. Vasilis had come right to him, and he was the most worried about it because it was practically entirely magical. He tried to picture Braken's backpack. The worn leather, padded straps, and brass buckles. He knew where it was, and he knew where he wanted it to be.

"Umm… thanks," Braken said. Seth opened his eyes to find Braken wearing his backpack.

He beamed, "I don't know why it didn't come the first time, but it's here now."

Seth could see everyone was ready. Kendra was adjusting her pack to be more comfortable with the armor she was wearing under her shirt. Tanu was closing his pouch after checking that all the potions were intact. Vanessa gracefully brushed hair from her face, and Warren was just standing there waiting.

"Alright Seth," The Sphinx said, "Let's enter the labyrinth."

"It's just around the corner," He replied, adjusting his emergency kit. Agad had made some changes to it after the Zzyzx fiasco. It now felt like he was carrying less than he actually was. It was also a lot bigger on the inside than the outside. Nothing quite like the storeroom where Bubda lived, but it was large enough that Seth could easily curl up and get inside. From the outside it looked rather empty, and if anyone opened it except Seth, it would appear to only hold necessities and look like a normal backpack on the inside.

As he rounded the corner, he stopped suddenly. In front of him was a large black rectangle, about as tall as the maze. He realized that it was actually a door, the door to the labyrinth. Now he just had to figure out how to open it.

"What's wrong?" Kendra asked, looking around.

"Oh," Braken said, "Wasn't expecting this."

"Wow," The Sphinx said, "I wasn't expecting this either."

Kendra glared at both of them, but before she could earn herself some annoying points, Seth said, "There is a black door to the labyrinth right in front of us."

"Oh," Kendra squinted and leaned forward trying to see it, but just shrugged and turned back towards Seth, "I guess I'm better at distracter spells than doors to labyrinths."

"There's nothing we can do now," Braken said, "We need to find another way into the labyrinth."

"Hang on," The Sphinx said, "Let's think about this and look at our options."

"We don't have any options," Vanessa shot back, "There isn't another way past a Hallowed Door."

They continued arguing, but Seth was examining the door. He was exactly sure how he knew it was a door, because it was just a black rectangle, but he was certain that's what it was. There was a faint crack around the door. I looked like the crack around a normal door. He wondered if it was possible, like with a usual door, to slide something into the crack and lift the latch. He went to the door and found that he could just get his finger nails in the little crack. He tried to pry open the door. At first Seth thought that nothing was happening and was about to try something else, but saw that he had indeed pulled the door out, albeit only slightly. Getting a better grip, he again pulled. A grinding filled that air, as if the door were made of granite or something like that. He tried pulling harder, but the door refused to open any faster and in fact he seemed to tire faster pulling harder. Slowly but surely the door was opening.

Seth was fairly certain that he could have squeezed in now, but Tanu never would have fit and he wanted to open the door all the way. Sweat ran down his forehead. Opening the door seemed to take more out of him than he would have guessed. It probably was using some sort of shadow charming magic also. At last the door ground to a halt. Seth stepped back to survey his handy work. The massive door stood open ready for them to enter the labyrinth.

A massive bellow issued out of the gaping chasm and Seth had just enough time to see the face of an ogre and his enormous club before being pounded in the side. Stars danced before his eyes. He heard someone yell his name; he was pretty sure it was Kendra. There was an immense pain blooming in his side. His vision darkened and he passed out.


End file.
